Look What I Found
by Marlex
Summary: Ziva watches as Tony goes snooping in McGee's desk to find something to help them figure out the identity of McGee's mysterious girlfriend of nine months. What he finds is not at all what he or Ziva expected. (Sequel to "Having a Talk with the Boss" although it's not absolutely necessary to read that one first.)


**Author's Note:** Yes, this is another one-shot resulting from a prompt at the CommentFic community on LiveJournal. The prompt this time was: "any, any, I Went To Borrow A Pencil And Look What I Found (Public Eye)." I wrote this to be a sequel to "Having a Talk with the Boss," but it's not necessary to read that one to enjoy this one. Reviews, as always, are welcome.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ziva looked suspiciously at Tony as he walked over to McGee's empty desk. Their fellow agent was currently with Gibbs in the conference room interviewing a missing sailor's commanding officer, leaving his desk and its contents vulnerable.

Tony must have felt her gaze, because he turned to her and said, "I just need a pencil."

She scoffed and Tony gave her a mock expression of hurt as if he couldn't believe she didn't believe him. Of course she didn't, and she gave him a look to show just how little she believed him.

Tony reached McGee's desk, and with a quick glance around the bullpen, he opened the top drawer, quicking turning his attention to its contents. She heard pens and other items rattle around as Tony poked this way and that in his search.

Ziva knew what he was looking for: evidence. Not of any crime, of course, but of McGee's girlfriend. They all knew he had had one for almost nine months, but somehow he managed up until now to keep her identity a secret, no small task when working side-by-side with someone as nosey as Tony. As tight-lipped as McGee typically was when it came to his personal life, it had been a major achievement in itself when Tony tricked him into admitted he had a new steady girlfriend. But that had been months ago, and it was still as far as Tony had gotten.

Normally she would chastise Tony for violating McGee's privacy, but she had to admit she was terribly curious herself about this woman who had seemingly brought her friend much happiness. She'd tried herself, using much more subtle measures than Tony, to get some information out of McGee, but she too had come up empty. She even tried asking Abby, since she knew the forensic scientist was the only one McGee ever confided in. But she was as silent as McGee himself on the matter. Abby had a boyfriend herself these days, but she was being rather quiet about that as well. From what Ziva had heard through the office gossip mill-which she of course never took seriously at all-Abby had been seen eating lunch with the same young man a few times over the past several months. Ziva doubted it was serious though, since Abby tended to trade in boyfriends as quickly as other did shoes.

Ziva knew McGee would tell them eventually who his mysterious woman was, but he'd been dating this girl for almost nine months and she wanted to know now. It was time the secret came out, and if Tony found something concrete to help them identify her, well, she was willing to look the other way-figuratively, of course-as Tony rummaged through McGee's desk.

Tony pulled the drawer out a little further, and the prodding resumed. Suddenly, however, the noise ended and she saw Tony's eyes widen as he sucked in a shocked breath. Slowly, almost gingerly, Tony pulled out a small black velvet box. Ziva knew instantly what kind of box it was. She stood up, and with her own glance around the bullpen to make sure neither McGee nor Gibbs was on his way back, she walked over to Tony, who seemed frozen in place as he stared at the little box in his hand.

Without a word, she grabbed the box from him and opened it, ignoring the tiny voice in her head telling her quite forcibly to put the it back into McGee's desk and forget they ever saw it. Instead, however, she opened the box, looking at the exquisitely crafted engagement ring. The band was white gold, with a generously-sized diamond surrounded by what looked to be tiny red rubies. Like Tony, she could only stare at the ring, wondering just who McGee intended it for.

A few moments later, her conscious took back over and she closed the box, seemingly breaking Tony from his own stupor.

"Put it back," she said quickly.

"But…" he said pitifully, like a child told to clean his room on a sunny day.

"Put it back," she reiterated.

He took the box from her and was about to place it back in McGee's desk when a voice shocked both of them.

"What's that?" Abby asked from behind her.

So intent on the ring, Ziva hadn't heard the elevator ding or Abby's approach. She quickly turned to face her friend and found herself lost for words. Behind her, she heard Tony trying in vain to put the ring box back, but Abby's eyes were locked on it.

"Where did you get that?" she asked more quietly, an odd tenor to her voice.

Tony cleared his throat, obviously not nearly as happy getting caught snooping through McGee's things as he had been doing the actual snooping.

"Umm," he stumbled. "I was looking for a pencil in McGee's desk and, well, I saw this box just sitting there, and, you know me, I had to look."

Abby continued to glance and forth from Tony's face and the box in his hand. "Is it what I think it is?" she asked after a long pause in the same quiet voice which seemed odd coming from Abby.

"Apparently so," Ziva broke in, not trusting Tony at the moment. She knew Abby and McGee had a past, and while her friend seemed alright with McGee having a new girlfriend, it was probably a shock to learn he had reached the point that he was ready to ask the mystery woman to marry him. That was assuming, of course, he hadn't talked to Abby about it, but based on her expression, this was news to her as well.

"Do you want to see it?" Tony asked, holding the box out to her.

Abby jumped back as if the box would sting her if she got too close. "No," she said sharply. There was a touch of anger in her expression now. "You shouldn't go looking through people's things Tony. It's rude."

To Ziva's surprise, Tony looked properly chastised. Abby was the only one who could ever get through Tony's defenses like that, she mused.

"Now put it back," Abby continued. "Before McGee comes back. He doesn't need to know about this."

"Know about what?" McGee's voice asked.

Ziva turned to see McGee and Gibbs standing in front of her desk, looking at them. It seemed like the day was destined to continue getting worse.

"McGee," Abby said in a false happy tone.

Like Abby before him, McGee's focus seemed to jump between Tony and the ring box. It was as if he was performing some mathematical formula in his head, combining the figures of Tony behind his desk and the box in his hand. He then turned his attention to Abby, all but ignoring the rest of them.

Silently, McGee walked over to Tony and grabbed the box from his hand, still looking at Abby.

"You really need to learn to leave things alone Tony," McGee said, a tone of menace lurking underneath his words.

"I was just looking for a pencil," Tony said lamely, the lie becoming threadbare at this point.

McGee, reached into his desk and handed Tony a pencil. "Here you go," he said.

He then walked out from behind his desk and over to Abby, his expression changing from one of anger to a mixture of happiness and anxiety. The almost instant transformation threw Ziva and she felt confusion begin settling in, especially when Abby appeared to take on the same expression.

"I guess, the time for secrets is over," he said, a smile now fully formed on his face.

Then, right there in the middle of the bullpen, McGee dropped to one knee in front of Abby, holding the velvet box out in front of him. He opened it to reveal the ring.

"Abigail Sciuto, 11 years ago, you said yes to a computer geek you had never met when he asked you to lunch over the phone. Nine months ago, you said yes again when I asked if you were willing to give us a second chance. Now I'm asking you to say yes one more time. Will you marry me?"

Ziva was beyond confusion. She was dully aware of certain facts, but her mind simply didn't seem to want to put them together in the proper order. McGee had been dating someone for the past nine months. That person was Abby, who along with McGee had somehow managed to keep their renewed relationship a secret from the entire team for almost a year. And now McGee was on one knee in the middle of the bullpen, proposing to Abby.

Then it began to click together. Abby's supposed boyfriend. McGee's refusal to announce the name of his girlfriend. They had worked together for a joint act of subterfuge more complex than she would have given either credit for before today. Ziva supposed she could be angry at her friends for keeping them in the dark, but with as much history between McGee and Abby as there was, she could understand them wanting to keep this between themselves.

But now, as McGee had said, the secret was most definitely out. And now he was still on his knee awaiting Abby's answer. Ziva began to fear for the outcome, because Abby had never struck her as the marrying type, but as soon as this thought crossed her mind, Abby blurted out her answer.

"Yes!" she shouted, tears running down her cheeks. McGee, his hands visibly shaking, placed the ring on her finger. He then stood up and Abby wrapped him in one of her patented hugs, their lips meeting in a messy, passionate kiss.

Turning away to give her friends some semblance of privacy, she looked at Tony, who was still standing behind McGee's desk, his mouth open in a slack-jawed expression of utter shock. She almost felt sorry for her partner. Tony prided himself on being the detective, the one who could see through the fog and figure out the answers. But not this time. She could see it dawning on him that he had unwittingly played a part in two of his friends now being engaged.

Then she was distracted by the clapping. She turned to see Gibbs, an uncharacterized grin on his face. Soon, others around the bullpen realized what they had just witnessed and joined in the applause. McGee and Abby broke apart, both looking a bit embarrassed by being being the center of attention, not to mention the fact that they had been kissing each other right in front of Gibbs.

Ziva was suddenly worried for McGee's safety, but then she saw Gibbs continuing to clap. He must have known. For how long, she didn't know, but he must have known about the two of them before now.

Finally, the applause ended and everyone outside of their team returned to their duties. Gibbs' grin was gone. He walked up to Tony and head-slapped him.

"That's for poking your nose where it doesn't belong," he said.

"Right boss. Sorry boss."

Gibbs then walked over to Ziva, and she flinched just before he head-slapped her as well.

"And that's for allowing him to do it."

"Sorry Gibbs."

He then made his way to the smiling couple and repeated the gesture on McGee.

"I think you know what that's for, right?"

McGee was quiet for a moment and then responded, "Yes, boss."

Gibbs wrapped Abby in a gentle hug. "Congratulations."

"Thank you GIbbs," she said, sniffling from her earlier tears.

"Alright, back to work," Gibbs said once he disentangled himself from Abby. "We still have a missing sailor. But drinks are on me tonight once we're done."

"Yes, boss," they all said in unison.

Later that afternoon, Tony was with Gibbs in interrogation and it was just Ziva and McGee in the bullpen.

"Congratulations, McGee," she said.

McGee, who had been concentrating on his monitor, jumped slightly and then looked up at her with a smile. "Thank you."

"Can I ask you one question?" she said.

"Sure, Ziva," he replied, now giving her his full attention.

"Why on earth would you leave an engagement ring in your desk drawer where Tony could find it so easily?" That had been bothering her since McGee's proposal. He and Abby had been so careful for so long, and this seemed like a major oversight on McGee's part.

Surprisingly, McGee only smiled. "Well, I had been working on a way to tell you guys the truth about us. And build up the courage to propose to Abby. And well, let's just say Tony did exactly what I expected him to do."

Ziva couldn't help but smile. Now Gibbs' head-slap made more sense. McGee sure had come a long way from the tentative agent she had met nine years ago. "Abby is definitely rubbing off on you," she said at last.

"That she is," he replied. "Of course, I hadn't planned on Abby being up here before I got a chance to get back and confront Tony, but I guess it worked out in the end."

"That it did," she said. "That it did."


End file.
